A comparative study of RANS-based turbulence models for an upscale wind turbine blade

Muiruri, Patrick; Motsamai, Oboetswe S.; Ndeda, Rehema

doi:10.1007/s42452-019-0254-5

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The mesh elements increase with a decrease in the size of blade surface mesh starting from 0.15 to 0.03m. This mesh sensitivity study was adapted from previous work [19]. The blade face mesh of 0.05m was found adequate to model a blade without winglet at satisfactory computation speed as well as resulting in acceptable accuracy margin based on other published numerical results as indicated in the next section on validation of results.…”

Section: Meshingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three-dimensional double precision and parallel scheme was used in all simulations. A similar simulation set-up used in our previous work [19], was adopted in this study. A steady pressure based solver under absolute velocity formulation was used to solve fluid flow governing equations using Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm.…”

Section: Ansys Fluent Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Validation presented in this work was adopted from previous work [19]. It was performed for a blade without winglet following operating conditions: wind speed of 9 m/s, rotational speed of blade, Comparison of computed results to results of other researchers [16,[21][22][23][24] is shown in Table 4.…”

Section: Validation Of Numerical Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Computational Effects of Winglet Tilted Within Range of -45° and +45° on the Up-Scale Wind Turbine Blade Using CFD

Muiruri¹,

Motsamai²

2020

MMEP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The effects associated with the tilted blade tip section on power production and bending load are presented in this study. The blade tip's section of 0.045R size was inclined to the pressure and suction sides for cant angles within a range of -45° to +45°. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 5MW wind turbine blade was used as a reference blade. The numerical computations were performed using the finite volume method through ANSYS Fluent version 19.1. First, the aerodynamic performance of different configurations was examined based on computation results of axial force, aerodynamic torque and bending load on flap-wise direction. The best performing blade configuration was selected for further investigations on pitch angle sensitivity for varying wind speed between rated wind speed and cut-out wind speed. A steady-state pressure based solver utilizing Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm was used to solve Reynolds Average Navier-Stoke (RANS) equations closed with Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model. All blades with winglets increase aerodynamic torque. The winglets inclined to the suction side result in a higher increase of aerodynamic torque than the corresponding winglets tilted to the pressure side. The winglet tilted by a cant angle of 15° produced the highest aerodynamic torque increment by about 10% as compared to other blades with winglets. A similar performance trend was observed for the blade with and without winglet when the pitch angle was varied according to the specified wind speed. The general conclusion was made that a winglet can be used to enhance power extraction without the necessity to increase the rotor diameter.

show abstract

Section: Meshingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ansys Fluent Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Computational Effects of Winglet Tilted Within Range of -45° and +45° on the Up-Scale Wind Turbine Blade Using CFD

Muiruri¹,

Motsamai²

2020

MMEP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For the purpose of accurate simulation of flow, very fine mesh size was applied near the leading and trailing edges of the front and rear blades. Aiming to obtain the appropriate y+ value for the realizable k-turbulence model, unstructured meshes with inflation layers on walls were utilized by employing first layer thickness as also recommended by [1]. The maximum amounts of y+ on surfaces of front and rear blades have been reported in Table 2.…”

Section: Boundary Conditions and Meshingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The development of the wind energy industry helps to decrease the dependency on fossil fuel. As a result, many researchers have studied different aspects of wind turbines numerically and experimentally [1][2][3]. Since wind energy sources, as well as suitable sites (both onshore and offshore locations) for installing wind turbines, are limited, wind turbines with higher efficiency are needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prediction of aeroacoustic performance of counter-rotating wind turbine by changing the rotational speed of front rotor

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aims to investigate the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic performance of a counter-rotating wind turbine (CRWT) to define the effect of rotational wind speed of the front rotor on the sound pressure level of CRWT, using CFD simulation. For this purpose, NREL Phase VI wind turbine was considered as the single rotor, and validation of aerodynamic and aeroacoustic simulation has been carried out for the solver. Then, 3D simulation has been applied on single rotor and counter-rotating wind turbines to scrutinize the acoustic level of CRWT by changing the rotational speed of the front rotor. The unsteady flow simulation was carried out with the realizable k-ε Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes turbulence model, and the calculated flow field data were utilized using Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings model for predicting the acoustic level at receiver location, defined based on the IEC61400-11 standard. The results show that increasing the rotational wind speed of the upstream rotor leads to augmenting the noise emitted from CRWT. On the other hand, for tip speed ratios (TSR) ranging from 6 to 12, with increasing the front rotor RPM, the power coefficient of CRWT enhances, while for the TSR more than 12, an inverse behavior has been observed and power coefficient declines along with increasing front rotor's speed of revolution.

show abstract

Prediction of aerodynamic performance of NREL offshore 5‐MW baseline wind turbine considering power loss at varying wind speeds

Lin

Chen

2023

Wind Energy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the aerodynamic performance of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) offshore 5-MW baseline wind turbine with single rotor and full wind turbine. Using statistical methods, the relation between pitch angle and performance when the speed is above the rated wind speed was analyzed; furthermore, other published data were compiled to establish the functional equations of power, thrust with various inflow wind speeds, and pitch angles. In addition, according to shape optimization based on parametric modeling, the two-dimensional cross-section of the wind turbine blade can be defined through a metasurface approach, and the three-dimensional surface modeling of the wind turbine blade, nacelle, and tower is completed using the nonuniform rational B-splines (NURBS) interpolator. In terms of aerodynamic simulation, the unstructured polygon mesh was used herein to discretize the space and simulate the highly curved and twisted surfaces of the blade. In this study, the compact and accurate mesh form obtained through a grid independence test will be used to analyze the distribution of the pressure coefficient, shear stress coefficient, and limited streamline on the blade surface at various inflow wind speeds and pitch angles to understand the differences between different turbulence models and the causes of power and thrust attenuation at high inflow wind speeds. In addition, the phenomena of blade-tip vortices, dynamic stall, blade loading, and the interaction between nacelle and tower were collectively explored.

show abstract

A comparative study of RANS-based turbulence models for an upscale wind turbine blade

Cited by 20 publications

References 28 publications

Computational Effects of Winglet Tilted Within Range of -45° and +45° on the Up-Scale Wind Turbine Blade Using CFD

Computational Effects of Winglet Tilted Within Range of -45° and +45° on the Up-Scale Wind Turbine Blade Using CFD

Prediction of aeroacoustic performance of counter-rotating wind turbine by changing the rotational speed of front rotor

Prediction of aerodynamic performance of NREL offshore 5‐MW baseline wind turbine considering power loss at varying wind speeds

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About